Rail-brace.



No. 782,588. 7 PATENTED FEB.- 14, 1905.

W. S. WESTON.

RAIL BRACE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 5, 1904.

Fey 3' W22 7168.585 I In z/en fo r UNITED STA ES Patented February ll, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

RAIL-BRACE- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,588, dated February 14, 1905.

Application filed July 5, 1904. Serial No. 215,242.

' To alt whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. VVEsToN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Braces,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The present invention has for' its object to provide a cheap, durable, and eifective construction of brace for railway-rails; and the invention consists in the features of improvement hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

It has heretofore been common practice to form rail-braces from an integral mass of castiron or from integral plates of iron or steel shaped to fit beneath the heads and. against the base-flanges of the rails and having expanded bottom portions adapted to be secured by spikes to the faces of the railwayties. A serious objection to rail-braces formed fromintegral pieces of cast-iron is that the basefiange of the rail-brace is apt to be broken by blows of the hammer in attaching the brace to the tie, while the serious objection to railbraces formed of malleable iron or steel is the expense thereof.

The object of the present invention is to provide a rail-brace that shall combine the cheapness of the cast-iron brace with the durability of the malleable-iron or steel brace. This object of invention I have accomplished by constructing the rail-brace with a cast-metal body and with a malleable-iron or steel base that is attached to the cast-metal body of thebrace in the casting operation.

Figure l is a view in side elevation of a railbrace embodying my invention, the brace being shown in position for use adjacent a railway-rail that is indicated by dotted lines." Fig. 2 is a plan view of my improved brace. Fig. 3 is a view in vertical section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

A designates the body of the brace, that is formed-of cast-iron or other suitable cast metal, and B denotes the base of the brace,

that is formed of plate metal, such as tough steel, malleable iron, wroughtiron, or the like. Any convenient form may be given to the body A of the brace adapting it to perform its function of bracing or holding the railway-rail C. As shown, the body of the brace A comprises an upright portion'adapted to extend along the web of the rail and beneath the head thereof and having a notch or seat at a, adapted to engage the lower corner of the rail-head. As shown, also, the lower part of the body of the brace A is recessed,as at a,to receive the base-flange c of the rail C. The base B of the rail-brace is shown as provided with notches b to receive the usual spikes, whereby the brace will be attached to the cross-tie of the track; but these notches are not essential to the invention. In the preferred form of the invention the base B is formed with an extension adapted to project under the base of the rail C, this extension being provided adjacent itsend with a suitable spikehole 6. It is not essential, however, (although preferable,) that the base B should extend beneath the rail C, as the brace might terminate at the edge of the rail, as indicated by the dotted line b on Fig. 2 of the drawings.

In carrying out my invention the body A and base B of the brace are connected together in the operation of casting the body A, the base B being set in the mold in which the body A is cast. In order to eflfect a secure union of the body A and base B, the base is so shaped that these two parts shall interlock. This interlocking of the body and the base may be accomplished in various ways within the scope of my invention; but preferably the base B is formed with prongs or offsets 6" in suitable number and arrangement and adapted to be embedded in the lower part of the body A of the brace. As shown, the prongs Z) of the base B are formed by punching them up from. the base, a hole being thus formed into which the cast metal of the body A'will flow.

In forming my improved brace the baseplate B, being previously perforated or having prongs Z) punched up for forming an interlocking engagement with the body A of the brace, will be placed in the mold in which the body A is to be cast and fluid metalwill then be run intothe mold and will flow into the perforation of the base B and about the prongs or offsets b The finished brace will be found to possess the advantage of cheapness incident to the ordinary cast-iron brace, as any grade of metal may be employed for the body portion A, and my improved brace will also have all the advantages incident to a malleable iron or steel brace, as the base B, being of tougher metal, will resist the blows incident to spiking the brace to the cross-tie of the track.

It is manifest that the precise details of construction above set out may be varied within wide limits without departure from the scope of the invention.

-Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A rail-brace comprising a cast-metal body portion and a base of tougher metal united thereto in the casting operation.

2. A rail-brace comprising a body of cast metal and a base of tougher'metal, the base being perforated to receive the cast metal of the body.

3; A rail-brace comprising a body of cast metal and a base of tougher metal, said base having an offset portion embedded in the cast -metal of the body.-

4:. A rail-brace comprising a body of cast metal and a base of tougher -metal, the base being provided with upwardly extending prongs embedded in the cast-metal body.

5. A rail-brace comprising a body of cast metal and a base of tougher metal, said base having a perforated offset portion interlocking with the body of the brace.

6. A rail-brace comprising a cast-metal body and a base of tougher metal cast thereon, said base having an extension adapted to project beneath the base of the railway-rail.

WILLIAM S. WESTON.

Witnesses:

GEO. P. FISHER, J r., ALBERTA ADAMICK. 

